Plouf: Fantastic
We went to Plouf the other night at the suggestion of some chowhounder. Oh My God! It was fantastic. The waitstaff was great. The only mistake we made was NOT ordering the Mussels. Everyone around us ordered Mussels and they looked and smelled great. No worries though. I had the Endive Blue Cheese salad that was to die for. It was fantastic. It was made with imported Blue Cheese and it tasted like heaven. Then, I ordered the Sea Urchin Pasta. Words cannot describe how fantastic this dish was. The pasta was homemade. It was covered with fresh shrimp, scallops and sea urchin, in a cream sauce. This was an amazing meal. Thanks Chow Hound.
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Ruth Lafler
Sep 7, 2009 07:28 PM
You're welcome! Thanks for the report -- we don't often hear about offerings at Plouf other than the mussels (which is what they're known for).
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re: BernalKC
bbulkow
Sep 9, 2009 09:14 PM
First answer is Belgium. I ate mussels every day for a week in Liege, bars and little bistros, at which point you're ruined for American mussels. That's the same style as at Plouf, where there's a list of sauces. I ended up loving Provancale. Plouf's sauces are dull and lifeless in comparison to what I remember from Belgium.
That being said, around here I prefer the preparation where the mussels are pan roasted. My favorite local to me was Three Seasons in Palo Alto, which had a divine lemongrass based sauce, but they took that dish off the menu.
For more standard preparations, I'd say just about any place is as good as Plouf. The mussels I had at shokolaat in Palo Alto last weekend were perfectly serviceable - not overcooked, super sweet, interesting sauce with lots of onion and cream, could have used more punch but an interesting dish.The place that preceded Wood Tavern I remember as having good mussels. I think I remember liking Luka's sauce, and the fries aren't bad (actual belgian style).
Perhaps 'meh' was a bit strong - they're fine but not "worth a trip" IMHO. I order mussels a lot, love the little buggers, and after a few visits to Plouf I found theirs not particularly better than my regular restaurant's, and Plouf is kind of a hassle, given location, parking, and noise. If I was walking past and was hungry I'd eat them, though.
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re: Karen_Schaffer
Robert Lauriston
Sep 10, 2009 09:29 AM
I've had mussels at Plouf probably a dozen times, and they were always very good except for one visit, when they were just OK.
Plouf used to be my favorite place for moules-frites, but now I prefer À Côté in Oakland.
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